Top 3 Business Problems – Financial Services

October 2, 2017 Leah Hoffmann

financial services consultants: hand signing contract

The financial services sector is undergoing rapid transformation. Yet only about 7% of financial-services CEOs in the U.S. and Europe say their firms are very prepared to make the innovations they need to fend off fintech startups and capitalize on digital opportunities. Enter on-demand financial services consultants.

Business Talent Group’s on-demand financial services consultants combine deep industry experience with expertise in the domains that are most relevant to its future, from innovation to artificial intelligence. They can help financial services teams add capacity at their busiest moments, fill knowledge gaps, and execute large-scale transformations.

Here are a few examples.

Machine Learning Market Landscape

The VP of Strategy at a global financial information company was assessing opportunities in the promising but fast-moving field of Artificial Intelligence—in particular, Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Her group had already identified several potential applications. In order to prioritize future investments, however, they needed help understanding the broader strategic landscape. What did the market look like, and how should the company frame new opportunities, both internally and for customers? Business Talent Group connected the client with a team of four consultants: two AI/RPA experts, supported by two analysts. Through interviews with their extensive financial services network, this team was able to provide key insights about how competitors, customers, and key capital markets players were investing in RPA. By the end of the compact, three-week project, they delivered an actionable report of the landscape that the company could leverage to refine its investment strategies across the enterprise.

Piloting Process Improvements

After a series of acquisitions, it was time for a commercial bank to standardize its back-office loan processes. Knowing that his lean team would need additional support, the SVP of Process turned to Business Talent Group. The first process on the client's agenda was small business lending. From origination to servicing, each loan type was handled differently; the client's goal was to get consistency in at least 80% of the work. But he needed help defining a new process that would both successfully address customer needs and reduce internal inefficiencies. Our financial strategist began with a short diagnostic that helped her understand current workflows, identify customer pain points, and understand competitive trends. Then she outlined key principles for servicing small business customers and designed a detailed end-to-end process that followed them, including risk analyses, controls, and roles and responsibilities. After presenting these recommendations to stakeholders, she outlined an implementation plan, and continued to work with the company on a part-time basis as the client began to execute.

Putting a Big Strategy Into Action

Regulations added inefficiency to the most profitable products of a F500 Financial Service client’s public finance group. A Big Three consulting firm had diagnosed the most pressing issues. But the Head of Transformation was struggling to map those improvements onto their own operations. Business Talent Group put together a three-person team to help the transformation group put the consulting firm's strategy into action and increase productivity while mitigating risk. Our project lead was a former Big Three consultant and lean process expert; thanks to his background, he was able to quickly pick up where the consulting firm left off. Supporting him were a six sigma capacity management specialist and an experienced financial analyst. The consulting firm had outlined improvements, but no clear steps to take. So Business Talent Group's team began by examining KPIs across five different sectors in the group. Then they analyzed everything from sequencing to capacity, and designed an end-to-end process that could deliver on the client’s goal of improving profitability by 20%. Finally, they led a pilot of their plan in the local government sector.

About the Author

Leah Hoffmann

Leah Hoffmann is a former journalist who has worked for Forbes.com and The Economist. She is passionate about clear thinking, sharp writing, and strong points of view.

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